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Since the announcement of ‘The Credit Crucnch’ it seems you can hardly pick up a Newspapers without some Supplement article starting with ‘Frugal ways….’, ‘Save mone……’, ‘Cut the cost of…..’.

I certainly don’t have any argument with this, usually being frugal is strongly linked to more environmentally friendly ways of doing things and cuts down on much wasted materials in the process.

What does come over is that it isn’t so much saving money, because under normal circumstances we’re often simply spending money we haven’t got, as in Credit or Store Cards. So we’re not cutting down on thing’s we have, we’re cutting down on things which in theory, we can’t afford anyway!

Maybe in some pure and accidential way, the Credit Crunch will bring to the fore the dangers of spending Credit rather than cash.

In 1957, Sir Harold McMillan said the immortal words, “We’ve never had it so good”. Although scorned upon for saying it by many, it does now bear a fragment of truth.
There was the occasional ‘Hire Purchase’ deal you could have, but beside that, what you had was what you’d got.
On say the 10th. December, you had £60, that was what you spent on the festive presents. This made not only for frugality, but for presents from the heart rather than from the Wallet!

As a boy, I would open my Christmas presents (not usually more than about five of them) and know my Dad, Mum or Aunt etc. had ‘spared’ their cash to buy me something nice.

I read from a reliable source that on average, we finish paying off our December spree by mid to late March the following year.

So, as I welcomed Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Jamie Olivers campaign against Factory Farming almost a year ago, I welcome the Press making aware the importance of being frugal.
It would appear this financial crisis is not just a passing blip, but a long term condition we all have to learn to live with.

In the last year, Frugality has been a bit of a fashion for some, but that fashion is rapidly approaching necessity.
Most of my frugality comes from simply remembering back to when I was a youngster, watching my Parents and Grandparents tending their self-sufficient gardens in an environment of post-war Britain.

It isn’t clever being frugal, it is simply looking back to how we managed before there were Credit Cards and to times when Banks weren’t falling over each other to give you a Loan or Mortgage etc.

We are where we are. Some have more to lose than others and I’m sure they are the one’s who may now be regretting the ease at which they collected Cards in their pockets.
I have a truly deep sympathy for all those who are feeling it, especially those who never had it in the first place.

It’s time again for the united and communial spirit we have almost lost to raise itself, pull through a tough time and come out the other side, maybe not so well off financially, but far better off for it ‘spiritually’.

Back to basics and DIG FOR VICTORY !

See also in the Main Site ‘Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s’

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